OKC Thunder Ranked as No. 1 Future Team by ESPN

The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions. No matter what happens moving forward, the team was able to wrestle the 2024-25 Larry O’Brien from the clutches of 29 other teams.

While the feeling won’t fade from the Thunder organization for some time, the NBA’s next season is already approaching. In a matter of weeks, teams will tip off NBA preseason, followed up by opening night in just over a month.

Per usual for league champions, the Thunder are deemed the team to beat. But that isn’t likely to be the case for only next season. Oklahoma City has positioned themselves for a dynastic stretch of play, and it seems plenty are taking notice.

The Thunder came in at No. 1 on ESPN’s Future Power Rankings, which details three-year outlooks for all 30 teams.

The rating is achieved via five categories: players, money, draft, market and management. Oklahoma City rightfully topped the league in players, draft and management, all of which go hand in hand after Sam Presti’s masterful last half-decade.

The Thunder ranked No. 28 in money and No. 29 in market, neither of which is a massive surprise to anyone. But it's league-best roster and management more than bridge the gap.

“The question wasn't whether the Thunder would top the rankings but rather how they would rate historically.” ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote. “Based on a championship-winning young core (no starter under age 27) and a top-rated collection of incoming extra draft picks, Oklahoma City has the highest FPR for any team since the Kevin Durant-era Golden State Warriors.

“After agreeing to a supermax extension with reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and rookie extensions for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder will be hard-pressed to retain all their role players. Nobody is better positioned to replace them.”

Defending any title is a tough ask, but Oklahoma City has positioned themselves to be contenders for the next several seasons. Pelton's criticism of the team's future role players is a fair one considering just how much money is going to the team's star trio. But as he stated, no team in the league — both asset-wise and management-wise — is better prepared to re-stock.

Oklahoma City edged out No. 2 Houston and No. 3 New York to earn the top spot, likely by a decent margin.